DESIGNART TOKYO 2021, a festival of design and art in the city of Tokyo that has become a well-known Autumn event in Tokyo, was held from October 22nd to 31st. In the Autumn of 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually settling down and people are returning to the city, the 5th edition of DESIGNART TOKYO was held at 84 venues with the participation of about 300 creators and brands, attracting about 180,000 visitors in total during the 10 days of the event.

Information Center (World Kita-Aoyama Building) © Nacása & Partners

DESIGNART TOKYO originally started as a project in 2017, when five groups of six founders from various creative disciplines decided to establish the creative industry that originated in Tokyo. It is an innovative initiative that brings together art and design (architecture, interior, product, fashion, technology, etc.) from all around the world in one of the creative cities in the world, Tokyo. The exhibition uses a variety of venues – including shops and galleries – to entertain visitors with different forms of presentations. The theme of this year was “CHANCE!”.

“KURADASHI” Exhibition at Information Center (World Kita-Aoyama Building) © Nacása & Partners

At the World Kita-Aoyama Building, which serves as the information center for the event and welcomes many visitors every year, a first attempt was made to exhibit valuable works (archetypes) of designers and creators, including prototypes not yet on the market, which are the source of ideas for designs, under the title of “KURADASHI” exhibition, where visitors could see the products and purchase them through crowdfunding.

“KURADASHI” Exhibition at Information Center (World Kita-Aoyama Building) © Nacása & Partners

Curated by a product designer, Jin Kuramoto, participated 30 groups of creators from Japan and abroad, from young to famous designers, participated in the exhibition. All the items are available for purchase on the crowdfunding service Ubgoe and more than half of them were sold out within a few hours of the start of sales, resulting in a final goal of more than 240%. （Target amount was 1,000,000 yen)